Fernando Alonso is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season because he wants a fresh environment and needs to be winning again, the Formula One team`s ex-chairman Luca di Montezemolo said on Wednesday.

A frustrated Fernando Alonso reiterated his commitment to Ferrari on Thursday and took a verbal swipe at brand-damaging rumours in Italy suggesting he might swap seats with Sebastian Vettel to join Red Bull next year.

Daniel Ricciardo`s roller-coaster season saw him qualify third fastest for the Bahrain Grand Prix with a performance of raw speed which again put struggling world champion and Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in the shade.

Sebastian Vettel`s record run of nine consecutive race victories ended on Sunday when the quadruple world champion retired his Red Bull from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix with a reliability problem.

The new Formula One era started with few visible signs of a new world order arriving. On Saturday, the 2014 Australian Grand Prix qualifier witnessed the quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel struggling and finished a disappointing thirteenth on the grid. The prodigious German latter conceded that the Red Bull Racing`s new chassis RB10 lacked `drivability`.